Book Review: The Highest Mission

The Organon, Hahnemann's definitive book of homeopathy, begins: "The physician's highest and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure, as it is termed." This belief stemmed from the fact that Hahnemann felt many doctors had forgotten or distanced themselves from this original mission and were simply taking advantage of people for personal gain. In this vein, he added that physicians had "ambitiously wasted their talents and their time ... interweaving empty speculations and hypotheses ... in order to astonish the ignorant — whilst the sick humanity sighs in vain for aid." While Hahnemann was ostracized from the conventional medical community for his outspoken views, these beliefs motivated him to explore other options — hence, homeopathy.